(Original post by lula97x)
Hi guys! I have an assessment centre on Wednesday and was wondering if anyone has any advice?

Just things like what to expect and how to best stand out from the crowd?

The basics of what they will be assessing us on is a team working exercise so group work and then a "drafting exercise"?

I really want to do well and and get onto the scheme and I would really appreciate any tips or help?

Really depends on the firm you are applying for.

Key aspects of drafting:
- Conciseness
- Structure
- Long complicated sentence structures - could they be simplified
- Any ambiguity
- Transposed details (e.g. instead of 03/11/18 it says 11/03/18 or 30/11/18)- Slight mis-spellings of names (e.g. Mr Thompson vs Mr Thomson or Ms Thompson)- Is the communication addressed to the right person- Make sure the tone and language is appropriate to the audience - if it is to a client is it too reliant on legal terminology that they might not understand

Group exercises:

- Time is always tight - keep an eye on the time
- Try to allocate responsibilities (scribe, timekeeper etc)
- Constantly think about your objectives - what are you trying to achieve (and achieve well, rather than achieving just because you ran out of time.
- Ask questions - talking is only 10% of the exercise. Can you pull out ideas from others within the group by asking appropriate questions.
- Recognising others contributions.
- Constantly using the information in the brief to support your thinking or analysis.
- Keeping in mind your body language - you might be able to bluff what you say, but your negative body language usually gives you away if you are not doing some of the above.
- Be yourself - you may try to impress in the exercise, but you have to present yourself at the same time. Faking certain behaviours that you don’t normally exhibit can lead to negative results later.

(Original post by J-SP)
Really depends on the firm you are applying for.

Key aspects of drafting:
- Conciseness
- Structure
- Long complicated sentence structures - could they be simplified
- Any ambiguity
- Transposed details (e.g. instead of 03/11/18 it says 11/03/18 or 30/11/18)- Slight mis-spellings of names (e.g. Mr Thompson vs Mr Thomson or Ms Thompson)- Is the communication addressed to the right person- Make sure the tone and language is appropriate to the audience - if it is to a client is it too reliant on legal terminology that they might not understand

Group exercises:

- Time is always tight - keep an eye on the time
- Try to allocate responsibilities (scribe, timekeeper etc)
- Constantly think about your objectives - what are you trying to achieve (and achieve well, rather than achieving just because you ran out of time.
- Ask questions - talking is only 10% of the exercise. Can you pull out ideas from others within the group by asking appropriate questions.
- Recognising others contributions.
- Constantly using the information in the brief to support your thinking or analysis.
- Keeping in mind your body language - you might be able to bluff what you say, but your negative body language usually gives you away if you are not doing some of the above.
- Be yourself - you may try to impress in the exercise, but you have to present yourself at the same time. Faking certain behaviours that you don’t normally exhibit can lead to negative results later.

Its for a SC law firm, summer vacation scheme. It is my first one and I really like the firm, its ethos etc.

Many thanks for your help! From your experience/opinion is it easier to get through at the assessment centre than it was at previous stages (interview, tests, application?)

Also, is there anyway I can prepare myself? It kind of sounds impossible to prepare for?